My Journey with Mama

My journey of life with Mama has been a colourful decorated mixture of treasured traditions, special experiences and the most invaluable lessons. During my childhood, Mama used to teach me Alwars Divyaprabhandam recitation and Carnatic music, which I can never forget until today. As I was weak in Mathematics, he taught me the same during summer vacation for next year syllabus. This made me more confident.

He used to take me to Tirupathi. The pilgrimage itself used to be as marvellous as we were conferred the privilege of darshan of Lord Venkateshwara without any suffering in the queues for long hours. As a real champion of traditions, Mama ruled out any hotel accommodation or meals from outside, while the banana leaves used for our meals were a symbol of the eco-friendly lifestyle steeped in orthodoxy.

A memorable trip I want to share is when I was taken to Alwarthirunagari during my PUC days, with a reverent attitude. It was the first time I stayed in a traditional home with the practice of being treated with immense respect, as the hosts thought that I am also an orthodox person like Mama and treated me in the same manner. Eg. a silver tumbler of coffee was offered to me, which I was not supposed to sip just like I do in my home, which was a quite challenging experience for me!

But, Melkote has won a place in my heart. Particularly Mama's love for the Sanskrit manuscripts and his Sanskrit academy's garden of full-blooming flowers- especially the Manoranjini flower being the most fragrant of them. This flower, which was very much liked by my father, made him to create and name an ice cream flavour after it in our Amrith Ice-cream shop-Manoranjini ice cream. It is still very popular amongst our customers. It is a flavour that symbolizes Mama's gift to us.

One more wonderful thing was his farm. His dedication to growing all varieties of vegetables, fruits, and flowers and sharing them not with family, but also with his relatives, friends, shishyas and everyone, which reflected his loving care and generosity

During the challenging times of the COVID pandemic, when my business was struggling, I reached out to Mama to share my concerns. I explained how terribly the situation had affected my business. Mama simply said: "You are not alone; the whole world is facing this situation. Stay calm and cool." It made me realize how Important it is to remain calm in the face of challenges, take the problem in a very serious way, but with a clear mind rather than getting tense.

These experiences thus aligned me with Mama's dedication to tradition, learning, and nature, inciting me to learn more from his life and ways.

I always seek his blessings in our lives.